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Noob owner seeks guidance re: making my Colt range-ready.

Old shooter but new to M4 style carbines. Bought a new Colt 6720 earlier this year, have not cleaned or shot it yet. Did a search on how to clean up a new Colt but way too many results, none of the ones I read really said what to do.

I was figuring swab the bore with a patch and Hoppe’s, Gun Scrubber sprayed down the gas tube, and Break-Free CLP with a nylon toothbrush inside the action and on all of the parts to remove the preservative. Am I off-base?

Haven’t field-stripped an AR type rifle since 2004 in the service, I could use some/any advice from real pros. Thanks everybody...

Iím definitely not a real pro, but I typically donít do anything. Iíve never sprayed anything down the gas tube, nor have I heard of that being a recommended practice, but I really donít clean the guns much. At most Iíd add a few drops of your preferred lube to the BCG and enjoy. I prefer Fireclean.

Noob owner seeks guidance re: making my Colt range-ready.

Pretty much what Wake said. I donít spray anything down my gas tube. Ever. New or otherwise. I usually put a little oil on my bolt and run it like that. I use a couple of lube/oils because I have them. They are all pretty equal I terms of what they do. 1. Slip EWL (2000). 2. Tactical springs machine gunners oil. One thing Iíve observed/learned is that there are a lot of gun lube manufacturers that over-complicate weapon cleaning. Youíd be surprised at the rifle cleaning habits of some of the HSLD shooters.
I donít clean my rifles like I did in the Army, and not nearly as often. Iíve got one AR thatís has yet to be cleaned.

Last edited by RobertTheTexan; 08-11-18 at 04:14.

"The attachment system of the 1913 picatinny is unmatched and will remain so for a thousand generations."
G. Washington

"If I had a quad rail on my musket, the outcome of the war would have been vastly different."
J. Reb

Did your Colt come with a manual? It gives the basics on how to break it down and clean and lube it. Although like mentioned above I do not do that after every shooting session, maybe every couple of months. Most times I just wipe it down, pop out the BCG and add a little lube to it. I do not get into all the magical lubes that require all kinds of special steps to use. Any good gun oil will suffice.

Lube it. feed it good ammo to start until you know you have a good working rifle than blast away with cheap stuff.

AQ planned for years and sent their A team to carry out the attacks, and on Flight 93 they were thwarted by a pick-up team made up of United Frequent Fliers. Many people look at 9/11 and wonder how we can stop an enemy like that. I look at FL93 and wonder, "How can we lose?". -- FromMyColdDeadHand

Although I've known the Colt to be run straight out of the box, i like yourself like to clean everything up. Some Hoppes or break free on the bolt and carrier, clean off the trigger assembly with a product like powder blast, run a few patches down the barrel, then straighten the gas rings on the bolt, apply just a dab of gun grease to trigger and run the bolt wet with a quality lube like Tetra. If you don't want to screw with the trigger invest in a one piece replacement like Timney or Black Rain but keep in mind you'll lose the failsafe Milspec goodness of the factory trigger. Although a DI you shouldn't have to worry about the tube for quite a while. Just run the bolt wet and enjoy that Colt. Still my standard for AR greatness.

I haven't had a new gun in a long time. But I like to run a patch down the bore to remove any gunk. Lube the BCG, and go to town. Never spray anything in a gas tube ever.

So many people neglect to do this, and it always amazes me. They grab a weapon out of the box and just shoot it.

It isn't all that hard to swap the barrel, and throw some lube on the BCG rails.

Stick

Board policy mandates I state that I shoot for BCM. I have also done work for 200 or so manufacturers within the firearm community. I am prior service, a full time LEO, firearm instructor, armorer, TL, martial arts instructor, and all around good guy.

I also shoot and write for various publications. Let me know if you know cool secrets or have toys worthy of an article...